How desperate was Kenny Atkinson on Sunday? He dug deep on the end of his bench and handed Jahlil Okafor his first action in a month.

Okafor’s former team was battering the Nets, and the coach hoped the young big man could provide some size against Joel Embiid. In his first action since Feb. 12, Okafor had four points and a rebound in 5:48.

“Yeah, I just felt like playing against Embiid he could use his girth and size, could help us out and I thought he did a pretty good job,” Atkinson said. “His minutes were good.”

Possibly inspired playing against his former team, Okafor checked into the game with 3:15 left in the first half, between a pair of Embiid free throws that made it 66-50. He gave the Nets a brief spark, immediately forcing a turnover on Embiid. Then he worked down low, got around Emiid for a dunk to make it 68-60 with 40 seconds left in the half.

He had another second-half cameo that didn’t go as well. Still, Atkinson had called Okafor “a victim of circumstance” beforehand and said he had shortened the rotation a little and hopes to find some minutes to look at the young free-agent-to-be down the stretch.

“Sometimes it’s just circumstances,” Atkinson said. “I’d say his approach, his buy-in to what we’re doing, has been phenomenal. His buy-in to our performance team and getting his body, improving his body has been phenomenal. So, very pleased.

“He has some days where he gets a little down, which is normal. But he picks it right back up and has really busted his tail. So hopefully in these last games we can find opportunities for him to get there. I’d like to see more, so hopefully we get to that point.”

D’Angelo Russell’s game-high 26 points are the most he’s scored in a game since Nov. 11 at the Jazz, when he suffered the knee injury that cost him 32 games. Since the All-Star break (eight games), he’s averaged 15.6 points and 5.9 assists.

Caris LeVert had 10 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal in 27 minutes off the bench against the 76ers. In his past seven games off the bench, he’s averaged 14.1 points.